OUR SEEDS, OUR FUTURE

Event Organizers – BALI

Supporting Partners

More about OUR SEEDS, OUR FUTURE

Objectives of OUR SEEDS, OUR FUTURE

1. To increase public awareness about the food systems in Indonesia, including food sovereignty and food security, including how they correlate with other global issues.
2. To promote a deeper understanding how social & environmental justice can be supported through “seed freedom”.
3. To support grassroots movements in Indonesia who fight to uphold food sovereignty in Indonesia.

Background of OUR SEEDS, OUR FUTURE

OUR SEEDS, OUR FUTURE: Strengthening Indonesia’s Food Sovereignty was a non-profit collaborative activity, initiated by Mantasa, with the support & involvement of many local organizations and individuals who contributed and shared resources to make this event happen. The local Event Organizers in Bali included Slow Food Bali and IDEP Foundation.

This project involved and was inspired by Dr Vandana Shiva, a world-renowned activist, philosopher, author, eco-feminist and scientist, who has obtained numerous awards for her work including the Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Prize), Time Magazine’s Environmental Hero and the Sydney Peace Prize.

“Seed freedom” has been Dr Vandana Shiva’s international campaign in recent years to counter the increasing monopolization of our food system by a small group of large corporations. The simple “seed” has been chosen by Vandana Shiva as the symbol of resistance to the excellerating momentum of the large corporate monopolies. She vigorously exclaims, “…if they control seed, they control our food. They know it, and it’s strategic. It’s more powerful than bombs, it’s more powerful than guns. This is the best way to control the populations of the world.”

The Keynote Presentation (at the Celebration Dinner) of Dr Vandana Shiva built awareness about the threats to our local (and world) food systems if large corporations continue to gain further monopoly control over seeds. The impact of the expanding “seed monopoly” will be felt not only by farmers around the world, but pervasively through out all aspects of society, including creating limitations to access to “good & clean” food, along with exacerbation of the challenges of climate change, loss in biodiversity, accompanying increase in world hunger, and related social and environmental problems.

OUR SEEDS, OUR FUTURE embraced the involvement of a diverse range of society, starting with the support of farmers, women’s groups, fishermen, indigenous people, local food producers, along with the informed general public who are concerned about the future of food in Indonesia and who want to strengthen and preserve food sovereignty and security in Indonesia.

An outcome of the upcoming OUR SEEDS, OUR FUTURE program in Bali was a local seed initiative, entitled BENIH BALI which will encompass a public awareness and education program about the importance of local seed production, with responsible supporting programs in Bali for improved seed conservation, adaptation & innovation programs, including an island-wide seed network, seed library, and seed bank. BENIH BALI will represent a “next step” in developing more programs initiated by and ongoing by IDEP, with collaborative support from numerous other organizations.